HORNELL - If you’ve walked down Genesee Street this summer, you’ve probably heard the echo of drills and hammers knocking down the road. Maybe you’ve caught a whiff of caulk or new carpet - the good ol’ fashioned smells and sounds of summer construction.

Those sounds have been coming from the stately brick building at 41 Genesee St., which is being gutted and transformed from the Robertson Funeral Home to an academic building, soon to house St. Ann’s Academy.

The new building was acquired just in time. St. Ann’s Academy has experienced a 50 percent increase in enrollment, bringing its student total from 21 to 32. It’s become a necessity to move the Academy out of the leased rooms at the United Presbyterian Church.

“We were really cramped last year,” said Penny Gray, the Director of Communications and a member of the Board of Directors. “So the extra space is nice.”

Once renovations are complete, the school will have classrooms for grades Pre-K through four, administration offices, a library, a technology lab, a kitchen and cafeteria, an assembly hall, and even a small chapel.

The new location and new name might cause some Hornellians to wonder what connect and what separates St. Ann’s Academy from the long-time Hornell institution St. Ann’s School.

“The most important similarity between St. Ann’s School and St. Ann’s Academy is that we teach in the Catholic tradition,” said Gray. The name “St. Ann’s Academy” was selected specifically to let the community know that the new academy would be teaching with the same values as the old St. Ann’s School.”

“Our teachers are comfortable referencing God in any situation,” said Gray.

There are several major differences between former school and current academy, though. One is that St. Ann’s Academy is truly independent. It does not receive financial support from the diocese nor the state. St. Ann’s Academy instead draws its funds through tuition, donations, and fundraisers.

Another important distinction unique to St. Ann’s Academy is the blend between traditional and innovative curriculum.

The core subjects - English, math, science, social studies, technology, and religion - will still be emphasized.

In addition, The location of the new building puts classes in walking distance of the YMCA (where students have physical education classes every day), the Hornell Public Library (which students visit once a month in addition to their own in-school library), and St. Ann’s Church (which the students still visit for First Friday mass every month).

Page 2 of 2 - The core subjects, however, will be taught mainly in the mornings. The small class sizes and greater one-on-one time with teachers enable students to pick up more information at a quicker rate than a larger class would allow. In fact, the school has hired several new teachers to keep up with the growing class sizes.

“We’ve hired more teachers than we probably need, so we can keep our low student-to-teacher ratio,” stated Gray.

In a new addition to the schedule, the Academy will use the afternoons to work on special, cross-cirriculum projects.

“Special subjects such as art, music, drama, entrepreneurship, and stewardship will be taught using projects that incorporate hints of core subjects,” said Gray. “For example, as a school stewardship project, the students will be sponsoring a child in an impoverished country. The children will learn about helping others (stewardship and religion); they will be responsible for raising money to support the child (entrepreneurial and math skills); they will write letters to him or her (English and social skills); and they will learn about the child’s culture (social studies, geography, technology, art, and music skills). And the best part is, many of these projects will involve the entire school.

Gray also emphasized that these activities would be tailored to grade levels. For example, If the students were to create greeting cards for a nursing home, the youngest children would draw pictures, the older children could write letters, and the oldest children could use the technology lab to create videos.

St. Ann’s Academy will also offer an after-school care program, which also offers learning-enrichment activities.

Though the new Academy building is still undergoing the construction that will turn it from a funeral home into a school, renovations are expected to be finished by the time school starts on Sept. 5. Jerry O’Connor, Board Presidents, states, “We are very excited to show off our new school and plan to hold a community open house early in September.”

St. Ann’s is a not-for-profit academy operating under a charter from the New York State Education Department, and is currently enrolling new students in grades Pre-K through 4. For more information, visit www.SAAcademy.org or call (607) 545-4060.